Researchers from Philadelphia Health Management Corporation in collaboration with the Health Promotion Council propose to adapt, evaluate and disseminate Comparative Effectiveness Research Summary Guides (CERSGs) on hypertension and type 2 diabetes for hard-to-reach and underserved African American men, including men who are homeless or living in public housing, men in the correctional system and men who participate in faith-based organizations.. The three consumer guides that will adapted are: Comparing Two Kinds of Blood Pressures Pills: ACEIs and ARBs: A Guide for Adults;Pills for Type 2 Diabetes: A Guide for Adults;Premixed Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes: A Guide for Adults. African American men are disproportionately impacted by hypertension and diabetes while also lacking access to needed health information due to low health literacy and other information barriers. Informed by concepts of social marketing and behavioral theory, we will adapt the language and format of printed CERSGs to be culturally appropriate, relevant, and easily understood and will develop video versions of the guides. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to assess the efficacy of the adapted materials and dissemination strategies. The specific aims of the proposed project are to: 1)Assess the informational and communication needs and preferences of hard-to-reach African American men who have been diagnosed with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes by conducting focus groups with consumers and key informant interviews with health care providers;2) Adapt print and video versions of CERSGs on hypertension and type 2 diabetes to be appropriate, culturally relevant, and easily understood by African American men;3) Use a repeated measures randomized control trial to test the efficacy of the adapted guides on health outcomes including improving men's knowledge of medications for their condition, self-efficacy for health management, appropriate use of medication, and communication with health care providers, as well as changes in biomarkers such as blood pressure and blood glucose level. 420 men will be randomly assigned to one of three groups-those receiving both the adapted printed CERSG and the video, those receiving only the adapted printed material, and the control group who will receive the current version of the CERSG. 4) Develop and assess methods of disseminating the adapted guides to men in community health centers, the correctional system and in faith- based organizations and examine adoption, reach, economic cost and sustainability of the use of these materials in community settings;and 5) Provide a plan for future dissemination of the adapted guides to settings in other communities, thereby ensuring that the results from comparative effectiveness research will have a greater impact on health outcomes of hard-to-reach populations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed project will have a significant impact on improving chronic disease management through 1) focusing on a hard-to-reach population of African American men with high rates of chronic illness, 2) collecting qualitative and quantitative data on the health information needs of African American men, 3) employing behavior change theory to adapt CERGS in print and video form for use with persons with low health literacy, 4) rigorously testing the effectiveness of both the print and video versions of the CERSGs in comparison to the current versions, and 5) assessing the feasibility and sustainability of disseminating this information in a range of community settings.